15 I would also like to thank my assistant, Sally Cannon, whose steadiness at times of stress and skill at organisation mean that in an extremely irregular professional life, at least my administration remains on a relatively steady course and in absolutely reliable hands. Without her my organisational threads would quickly become unravelled. My work takes me away from my Cornish home for many months each year. My wife, Ann, is far too sensible and independent to want to accompany me on any of my more rugged journeys (her nomination for a subject of wild beauty was the sunsets in the Maldives). An artist herself, she understands the forces that have driven and inspired me for more than thirty years and encourages me to follow my chosen path. She gives me the confidence to leave home and the desire to return. wilderness, and the natural world.” It is a tribute to Jane’s foresight, dedication, and single-mindedness that my new exhibition—the largest I have ever done—is now embarking on its public manifestations under the Foundation’s care. Throughout my slightly idiosyncratic career as an artist I have been supremely fortunate in my friends. When the Foundation realised that it needed a group of wise and experienced advisors to help steer the fledgling organisation, we were deeply honoured that Jim Ballinger, Michael Engl, Peter Fairbanks, Peter Hassrick, Kristin Poole, and Duncan Robinson agreed to become involved. I have known them all for many years. When confronted by a professional dilemma, I turn to these people for advice. That they have now agreed to put their considerable experience and reputation at the service of the Foundation is, to me personally, a source of considerable reassurance and pride. I am thrilled that Graham Beal, Gail Severn, and Annie and Bill Vanderbilt have agreed to join this distinguished group. sometimes difficult circumstances, resourceful, sup- portive, and absolutely dependable. Without them this exhibition would not exist. Bringing the work before the public requires an entirely different set of skills: framers, designers, curators, and technical staff all play an indispensable role. Jane Woodward, in her foreword, has thanked them on behalf of the Foster Art & Wilderness Foundation, but I would here like to endorse her remarks. I personally would like to thank Heidi Hackford, Julie Muñiz, Dan Saal, Mattias Lanas, and the rest of the Foundation’s excellent team for their dedication, professionalism, and extraordinary attention to detail. The Foundation was first conceived by Jane Woodward on Monday, 16 May 2011—I can be precise because we were together on a San Juan River rafting trip when the idea first struck. Almost five years later the splendid building at 940 Commercial Street, Palo Alto, California, opened its doors. The Foundation is dedicated to bringing my work before the public “to inspire reflection, discussion, and education about art, Tony Foster painting in Denali National Park, Alaska, September 2014 Tony Foster drawing underwater in the Maldives, 2007 Tibet party below Cho La Pass, Tibet, 2007
